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Fujitsu FM Towns Marty/FM Towns Marty 2

Console Information

In 1991 Fujitsu made an entry into the Japanese video games market
by releasing their first video game system, based upon their popular
FM Towns computers which had been on the market for 2 years now.
The system would be called the FM Towns Marty and had all the power
of the computer as well as a few extra components to form one powerful
video game system. It was the first 32-bit video game system and
featured a 386 processor, CD-ROM drive and a Floppy Disk Drive.
The FM Towns Marty was made backwards compatible with the computer
software. The system itself looks similar to an NEC PC Engine Duo/Turbo
Duo [link].

At the time of the Marty's release, computers and software were
very expensive in Japan with computers costing over US$1000 and
software between US$70 and over US$140, due to the limited runs
made. While the Marty provided a cheaper solution to buying games
for computers, it was still a high-priced video games console when
compared to the Sega Mega
Drive and Nintendo Super Famicom,
which were both a few hundred US Dollars cheaper. And people still
would have rathered a computer system rather than one that only
plays games, thus the FM Towns Marty did not take off too well after
its release.

Later down the track, Fujitsu released a revised version of the
FM Towns Marty; the FM Towns Marty 2. This was a 486 model, giving
it that extra power that the first Marty needed. This revision did
fairly well, not only because of the extra power, but also because
the cost of producing the system and software had come down by this
time. Games now ranged from US$38 to US$75, with only the occasional
release of a game priced around $140. These higher priced titles
were mostly adult Anime titles, something that this system is known
to have a large library of. Even though it was not the main purpose
for the system, their production was not discouraged, thus many
titles of this nature were released by third parties.

The Marty 2 also featured Internet connectivity, allowing avatar
chat and bulletin board system as well as the ability to play games
over the net. Something interesting to note about this system is
that it featured the only 32-bit version of Operation Wolf. The
controller for the Marty 2 looked similar to that of an NEC PC Engine/Turbo
Grafx 16, only with a very short cable! (You'd be best off
using an extension cable for the controllers, which use a standard
9-pin plug like those for Sega
Master System and Sega
Mega Drive/Genesis).

The FM Towns Marty was supported by Fujitsu for many years after
its release and by some third party software manufacturers up to
as late as 1999. The Fujitsu company were wise not to produce any
more follow-ups to this system as soon after the popularity of the
FM Towns Marty faded, Sony's PlayStation
devoured the market.